The game was delayed 1-hour, 24 minutes in the middle of the seventh inning by rain and lightning.

Turning point. Charlie Blackmon, one of seven Rockies rookies in the starting lineup, led off the third with a solo homer, his first at Coors Field this season. By the end of the inning, the Rockies scored four runs to take a 6-0 lead.

Blackmon also made a terrific defensive play in the seventh, just before the skies opened up. He hauled in Dave Sappelt’s drive to deep left, then threw out Joe Mather trying to advance to third. The double play wiped out the Cubs’ scoring chance.

On the mound. Pomeranz (2-9, 5.01 ERA) notched his first victory since July 6 in Washington. On that steamy afternoon, he allowed just one hit in 6 ⅓ scoreless innings, outdueling Nationals phenom Stephen Strasburg.

Wednesday, Pomeranz finally regained command of the strike zone. He gave up just three hits and mowed down the Nationals with his cutter, inducing nine groundball outs.

Piggyback reliever Alex White tossed two innings, allowing no runs on two hits, striking out two.

Rob Scahill took over after the rain delay and pitched two scoreless innings.

At the plate. First baseman Jordan Pacheco, who entered the game leading all National League rookies with a .306 average, slugged an RBI double in the first, and then singled and scored in the third.

What it means. The Rockies (61-94) appeared to by careening toward their first 100-loss season, but it now looks like they will escape that fate. They won their third straight game Wednesday and now need two victories in their final seven games to dodge 100 losses.

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